NTM

Even with my Spanish background, I started out speaking just enough to get me into trouble! The following are some of my favorite language bloopers:

We go to a chronological Bible Study at our landlord’s house every Friday night. After a few weeks, I thought it would be nice to have a little snack afterwards (this gives more insight into American “Church” culture). I attempted to make some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. The cookie sheet I used to cook them on was a little bent, so they turned into a glob in the corner of the pan. I decided to go with it and make cookie bars instead. Well… I’m still learning Celsius and the temperature was a little cool, so the center was a bit gooey. When everyone ate them, my landlord announced that I should cook more. I interpreted it as I needed to cook the cookies more, not that I need to cook more often.

One evening as we were going home, our landlord said he would see us tomorrow, if God wants (their version of Lord willing). Trying to make a joke, I said I would bring him the rent money tomorrow, if God wants. He thought I didn’t understand how to use the phrase and began to explain the passage in the Bible that says, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.’ You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. You ought to say instead, ‘If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.’. – James 4:13-15. We had a good laugh later that evening with his son and wife when I relayed the story. They thought I was very funny!

I have a great capacity to need words that sound very close to inappropriate comments and even swear words (who knew how different “piloto” and “pilota” could be…). The mistakes I usually make are anatomy related, if you know what I mean. I don’t know how many times I’ve been talking in our neighbors’ kitchen over coffee and they start giggling, hoping I won’t notice. My response is always, “OK, what did I say this time!”

For the first few weeks, whenever I needed to ask for a place to nurse Jackson, instead of saying he needed to nurse, I said that I needed to nurse.

I hope you enjoyed a good laugh at my expense!

An interesting cultural tidbit about a typical food here in Portugal is the castanha, or chestnut. In autumn, it is customary to eat them, boiled with salt or anise seed, or, as the song goes, roasted on an open fire. And they are really good!

There is even a holiday that heralds the chestnut- O dia de São Martinho. This is celebrated on November 11th. Legend has it that São Martinho was out on his horse on a very rainy day when he saw a poor, starving and freezing man. He was filled with compassion, so he tore his cap in half and put it around the poor man. The rain stopped and the sun shone. There is usually a little warm spell in November, which the Portuguese call "The Summer of São Martinho". To celebrate, they eat castanhas asadas, roasted chestnuts. The children celebrate this way at school and enjoy painting each others’ faces with the ashes from the chestnut shells. We celebrated it by eating chestnuts with our friends next door.

Top 10 Differences

10. Milk in a box
9.  Going to bed at midnight is early
8. Lots of tiny cars, lots of tiny houses, lots of tiny people…
7. They don’t eat peanut butter
6. Two whole aisles in the grocery store are dedicated to yogurt and another whole aisle for cooking oils
5. Two- hour lunch break
4. Big lunch, small dinner
3. Espresso, not coffee
2. Kisses, not hugs

And the number one Difference is…

1. Wine is served at a BAPTIST church potluck!

Top 10 Things We Miss

10. Our mini-van
9. Clothes dryer
8. Flat land
7. Taco Bell
6. Our CDs
5. Natural Peanut Butter
4. Big Refrigerator
3. Soft Beds
2. Friends

And the number one Thing we miss is…

1. Family (especially grandparents)

Top 10 Friends In Portugal

(in no particular order)

10. Anabela- This is the professor that Jon and I have in common. She goes way out of her way to help not only us, but all the students under her care.

9. Luis & Elena- They are our landlords. They live above us and keep us comfortable. They are always sure to have a conversation with us if we run into each other, help immediately if something is broken and play with the boys.

8. Iosotto & Nulu- These are the Uzbekistani girls who work at one of the local bakeries. They love to hold Jackson and give the boys treats!

7. Ben- Jon’s British classmate with a fun sense of humor and an incredible motivation to learn the language. He is Jon’s closest friend at University.

6. Carlos & Lydia- A young couple with a 3-year old daughter. Carlos works at the CLC Christian bookstore. Lydia is our landlord’s daughter.

5. Daniel & Paola- Our neighbors who are always ready with coffee for late night talks. He is the son of our landlords and takes me shopping every Saturday so I don’t have to try to manage mounds of groceries on the bus. They have been our best source of practice while learning the language. She makes the best coffee I have had in Portugal!

4. Naali & Jacque- Our Brazilian friends who have really reached out to get to know us and help in whatever way they can (including but definitely not limited to Jacque staying with the kids while I go to class). They are upbeat, fun and deep. What a blessing they are to us!

3. Kent & Jenny- The other American couple here learning Portuguese with us. They have been such an encouragement through their prayers, planning for our arrival, taking the kids for a day so we could have time together, spending holidays with and sharing their lives with us. They are great friends!

2. Our children- Jonathan, Asa and Jackson add so much wonder, color and beauty to our lives.

1. Our supporters- We wouldn’t be here without you! 

10. Safe arrival to Portugal
9. Housing (and it’s extremely affordable)
8. Health
7. We get to live in Europe for a year!
6. Relationships with some really cool people
5. We get Thursdays off
4. The University language course that Jon can take in full and Angie can have one class
3. Someone made their car available to us on weekends
2. Neighbors who are willing to visit with us whenever we want
1. We are at 70% of the recommended support level 

10. Our relationships with the Portuguese people
9. Our relationships with each other
8. Parenting with wisdom and consistency
7. Childcare so Angie can take one class next semester
6. Prioritizing our lives
5. Unsaved friends, classmates and professors
4. Support
3. Learning Portuguese (and maintaining sanity in the process)
2. Faithfulness to take time with the Lord amidst the busyness of it all
1. The lost in Mozambique

We live in a very old city that has its beginning in the 400’s! It is amazing to walk around and see the wonderful old buildings. We often stop in wonder at the fact that we get to live here.

Our home is on the side of a big hill. It is a little out of the way which is good and bad. Being out of the way is nice at night because it is quiet, other than dogs. The bad thing is it is quite a walk to get anywhere, and the buses don’t come by as frequently.

Our landlords are Christian and live above us. We have really enjoyed getting to know them. Their son and his family live next door. We spend a lot of time visiting with them. She makes the best coffee and we love the chance to practice Portuguese while visiting. They have quickly become dear friends and help us in any way they can.

We are both attending University. Angie attends for only 5 hours a week while Jon is enrolled in the full course. It has been fun to be back at school and a challenge to balance family living in another country and studies. Please pray for wisdom and that we would trust God in everything.

We have found a church we enjoy and have been welcomed by the congregation. We look forward to developing our relationships there as we are able to progress in the language. One particular couple, Naali and Jacque, have been a God send! She watches all three boys, twice a week, while we both go to class… and she is having her own first baby at the end of this month or in January! We can’t express how much we have appreciated them for their help with the kids, the “taxi” services they often provide and for the friendship we have formed.

Another couple that has been an encouragement to us here in Portugal are Kent and Jenny, fellow NTMers from the states headed for Mozambique. It’s been such a blessing to have someone we can take a mental break from Portuguese with who shares and understands the challenges we face in a foreign culture and language. We praise God for meeting the need of friends with whom it is easy to have depth and meaning with. Not to mention, the boys absolutely adore them!

It seems like most people have two or less children. It is fun to go out with three and see all the looks we get. It is funny because two isn’t that much less than three, but for some reason we are an anomaly here. Many people ask if Jonathan and Asa are twins, especially when we have them in our stroller.

Thanks for reading our novel!

Hello from Portugal! We arrived safe and sound on Thursday, October 2nd at around 10:30 am, our local time. Every missionary has a story about their travels, so we thought we would tell ours.

Our travel really started from Sacramento, California, when we left the airport around 12:30 pm PST and arrived to Manchester, New Hampshire around 12:00 am EST. The boys were very good on the flights and made friends along the way, as always!

The next day was a whirlwind of doctor and dentist appointments and a farewell party with our friends and family in New England. We enjoyed getting to see some we haven’t for quite sometime. What a blessing.

The next day, we left the kids with aunt Rachel and grammy and pop-pop so we could go to the Portuguese Embassy in Boston to try and sort out our visas. All we can say about that is that the application is in and we are in Portugal. Now we just wait to go pick up our visas when they are ready in Madrid, Spain.

After spending the day in Boston, Jon’s parents brought the kids and we went out for one last supper. They dropped us off at the airport and we proceeded to check-in. We brought two extra bags, which we mentioned to them, but they didn’t charge us for some reason. On top of that, they did other things for the boys once onboard, like giving them coloring books and set-up a special in-flight crib for Jackson. We were able to sleep some, but lost five hours on the way, so needless to say, we were very tired when we arrived at 10:00 am local Portugal time.

We had been warned at the consulate that immigration may have a problem with our one-way tickets (because we arrived as tourists without visas, which allows a 90-day visit), but they looked at us, our eight checked bags, three carry-on bags, one car seats, double stroller and three beautiful children and asked, “Are you students?” We nodded and they waved us through! Our friends and fellow NTM missionaries en route to Mozambique, Kent and Jenny, met us as we came out of to the main airport building. At that point we realized, “Wait a minute, if we only have one car seat, that means we left two in baggage claim!” Jon had to get special permission to go back and look for them, and we left the airport to hail a cab.

You can imagine the horror on the faces of the taxi drivers as they saw us coming. It took one regular cab and a SUV cab to get our things from the airport to the bus station. Five miles and fifty dollars later, we purchased our tickets and were on our way! We were too excited to sleep the first hour of the two- hour trip (although the boys slept fine) from Lisbon to Coimbra, but sleepiness took over and we slept a little bit. When we got off the bus, we discovered that the friends who were going to pick us up had car trouble and were unable to collect us and our belongings. After figuring out logistics of managing three children and a mountain of luggage between four adults, we began our trips to Kent and Jenny’s home. This took about three hours! It really helped when we were told by fellow bus riders that the stroller had to be collapsed (a detail the bus driver didn’t give when he told us we couldn’t get on). The worst part was finding it was the same driver who wouldn’t permit us to board with the stroller who came around a second time, and at this point, after traveling and waiting overnight for fifteen hours, we behaved like “typical” Americans and pushed our way on anyway! We finally arrived to Kent and Jenny’s house, and they made us a nice dinner and put us to bed.

All in all, we feel our travels went very well! Thanks for your prayers!

October will mark the beginning of our overseas ministry! We are excited to make our way to Potugal. Our friends and fellow missionaries to Mozambique, Kent and Jenny Schafer, will meet us at the airport and escort us to our new apartment in Coimbra.

Some of you may be thinking, "I thought they were going to Mozambique." We are, but first we have to learn Portuguese. Because New Tribes is new to the field of Mozambique, there is no national language program set-up. Jon will study at the University and Angie will learn in the parks and at church.

The city of Coimbra is 500 years old. We look forward to making our own history as we spend a year studying there!

Hi. I’m Jackson. I’m named after my great-grandpa. I was born July 2nd, at 11:08 am. I weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce and was 19 inches long. My current favorite past times are sleeping, eating and smiling at daddy and mommy… really everyone who smiles at me. I’ve already traveled, by car, across the country, and touched the Pacific Ocean. Soon I will take my first domestic flight followed by an international flight a few days later. I may even touch the Atlantic Ocean, too… from both sides! It’s nice to meet you!

On February 20th we received word that our visas to Brazil were denied. We were not too suprised, as many others have had problems recently. While we had hoped to go to Brazil to learn Portuguese, we recognize God has other plans for us.

"Why go to another country to study Portuguese?" you make ask. The field of Mozambique does not have a Language & Culture program set up yet. It is a relatively young field and there just aren’t enough people to facilitate such an extensive program.

Well, why not just study here with and use a software program? This method works for basic communication and for some very dedicated and engifted learners, but not for the fluency required to live and operate in a country who has very few English speakers.

We are now pursuing language study options in Portugal for this fall.

Just in case you haven’t heard the big news, we are expecting again! Button Baby #3 is due to arrive on July 16! We are so excited, and a little nervous, as we add another member to our “just-crossed-over-from-little-to-big” family! This was in God’s and our plan and we know God will give just what we need in raising another child for His glory!

We had a wonderful time as we celebrated Asa’s first Birthday on January 4th. It was a great opportunity to think back on those first few days of his life and see how faithful God has been in bringing him along to be a strong, healthy boy who is such a joy to our lives.

Some family and friends shared the celebration with us.

Even though Asa didn’t know what was about to hit him when he had his first bite of chocolate cake, the look on Jonathan’s face shows that he certainly does!

“Hey, this is pretty good!

“Somebody feed me!” 

“Oh, that one is MY piece!”

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“I like cake!”
 

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After the excitement of cake, we moved on to presents.

Wait a minute… isn’t that supposed to be mine?

“Yeah, more noisy toys!”

  
What a blessing it has been to have our sweet, little boys. We are so grateful to the Lord for these precious ones.